


Out of the Cold

by ChimaeraKitten



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No editing we die like mne, Sickfic, technically some editing but no rewriting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 15:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13321182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChimaeraKitten/pseuds/ChimaeraKitten
Summary: Damian "took an unplanned leave."





	Out of the Cold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laquilasse (laquilasse)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laquilasse/gifts).



> A gift to Toni, partially as an apology (she knows what I did) and partially because she's a nice person who deserves things.

Dick checked the penthouse fist.

When he got the call, he’d been halfway through stripping off his costume to catch some shut-eye.

_Kzzt_. “ _Batman to Nightwing_.”

Dick straightened, tapping his comm. “Nightwing here.”

“ _Robin took an unplanned leave_.”

He ran off, Dick translated.

“Did you fight?”

Bruce paused. “ _No_.”

Dick pulled off the rest of the Nightwing suit and reached for his pants. “Sounded a bit hesitant there.”

“ _He has a minor illness. It came on fast. I sent him home early.”_

“And he went in the wrong direction?” It wasn’t really a question.

“ _hnh_.”

Bruce was a good father. Anyone who said different would find themselves acquainted with the business end of an escrima stick, but he was new with Damian, didn’t yet know what pushed the boy’s buttons the way Dick did.

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

When Dick got to Gotham, he gave Bruce a list of places to check. The zoo, a defunct League safe house, the art store on 37th—places Damian felt safe. Places Bruce wouldn’t know to look.

Technically, Damian was just as likely to be in one of those places as in the penthouse but Dick had a hunch. He hoped it wasn’t selfish to take the most likely place for himself.

Dick was in civvies, so he took the elevator. He was glad the elevators here were fast and silent. Damian wouldn’t have any warning.

When Dick stepped out of the elevator, the penthouse was pitch black and cold as ice. He felt along the wall for the light switch, but found the thermostat first. He fished his phone out of his pocket and used the light of the screen to turn the heat on.

That was when he heard a sniffle.

Dick slid slowly into the master bedroom, his silence as much out of habit as out of a desire to go unnoticed.

There was another sniffle. “Grayson, I know you’re there.”

So much for stealth. Dick reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp. Soft, warm light rolled through the room. Dick could just see the top of Damian’s head over the edge of the bed.

“Hey, Damian,” Dick said, rounding the bed, “Heard you ran off.”

Damian’s head was bowed, face hidden. His high-kneed Robin boots pulled up to his chest. He sniffed again. “I did not ‘run off’ we had a disagreement and parted ways.”

“Was the disagreement about you being sick?”

“Perhaps.”

“You can’t patrol when you’re sick, Damian. I told you about the time I got pneumonia.”

“TT. I am aware.”

Dick sat, cross-legged, in front of Damian. “So why’d you argue?”

Damian buried his face farther in his knees.

“Damian, Look at me.”

Damian shuffled his feet.

Dick leaned forward and tilted Damian’s head up by his chin, noting the half-dried tear tracts down his face. Now he understood why Damian had kept his face hidden.

Damian snuffled. “I couldn’t leave father without a partner to watch his back.”

_And yet you came here to hide_ , Dick thought.

“When—whenever you forced me home for a _minor_ illness, you were wise enough to remove yourself from the danger that would result of not having a partner.”

“You wanted Bruce to come in?” _You wanted company_?

Damian dipped his head. “If I could not stay on patrol to assist him.”

Dick sighed. “Did you try _asking_ Bruce to go home with you?”

Damian didn’t reply.

Dick shifted his legs out from under him and rolled forward on his knees so he was kneeling.

“Damian, Bruce isn’t a mind reader. If you want him to do something, you have to ask.”

“He would have refused anyway.”

Dick shook his head. “You can’t assume someone’s answer to a question. Remember what I told you about the time I got pneumonia?”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Only a million times.”

“Well I didn’t tell Bruce about my cold because I was scared he’d be mad and make me go home alone. I got way sicker instead.”

“That seems to be your prob—“

“ _The point_ ,” Dick talked over him, “Is that afterwards Bruce told me to just ask the next time.”

“And what happened the next time?” Damian’s voice was small, afraid to be proven right.

Dick smiled, glad he was able to give Damian the answer he needed. “If he had an important case to work, he’d leave me in the batmobile or home with Alfred, but he stayed home with me just as often.”

Dick stood up and stretched while Damian mulled it over. “C’mon, lets get you home. I’ll call Bruce.”

Damian stood, and then immediately swayed on his feet. Dick reflexively caught him.

“Holy shit, you’re burning up!”

“Tt. I am fine. It is only a mild fever.”

“I thought you had a cold!”

Damian looked at him quizzically. “What would make you think that?”

_The sniffling_ , Dick almost said, which, now that he thought about it, was probably because of the crying. _Fuck_.

“Ok, scratch getting you home, we’re staying here tonight.”

“I am _fine_ ,” Damian said, looking the exact opposite, “I grappled here. I’m sure I can handle the elevator.”

The idea of Damian grappling in this state sent ice running through Dick’s veins. He took a deep breath to push back panic and forced a smile onto his face.

“Just stay for my peace of mind?”

Damian grumbled, but he looked relieved when he sat down on the bed.

“Give me a minute, and I’ll find some pajamas in your old room.”

“Alright.”

Dick spent a few minutes searching for pajamas, but the only ones he found were two small. Damian had grown an inch in the past four months. He settled on some sweatpants and a shirt he was pretty sure was actually his. He was collecting a glass of water and some Tylenol out of the kitchen when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around. “Hey Damian, need something?”

“I—“ Damian paused to blink. “—wasn’t sure you were still here?”

Dick’s heart broke at the lost expression on the kid’s face. He would have told Damian that he’d _never_ abandon him, but the kid was too out of it to remember if he did.

“Nope,” Dick said with false levity, “Still here. Why don’t we get you out of those boots?”

Damian nodded and started walking back toward the bedroom, but it was clear halfway there that he wouldn’t make it.

Dick put the glass down on the counter and crossed the room to scoop Damian up.

“Un…hand….” Damian mumbled, making a halfhearted attempt to pull away.

Dick put him down on the bed and started unlacing his boots. He could sense Damian drifting in and out by the time he pealed the second one off.

“Hey Lil D,” Dick squeezed Damian’s arm. “Do you want me to get you changed, or do you want to do it yourself?”

“m’self.”

“Ok, well here’s some pjamas.” Dick pressed them into Damian’s arms, sensing that Damian might drop them. “I’ll go get your water and medicine, okay?”

Damian nodded.

Dick pressed a kiss into his brother’s sweaty forehead and went to get the water. When he got back, he found Damian asleep on top of the covers with only the tunic of his costume removed. He set the water down on the nightstand and started pealing layers of Kevlar off Damian. The boy only roused when his elbow got stuck in the sleeve of the T-shirt Dick was putting on him.

“Grayson?”

“Hey kiddo. I’m going to need you to drink this, okay?” Dick said. “And take some pills, but then you can sleep.”

Damian took the glass in shaky hands, and Dick stayed tense, ready to intervene should it spill, but Damian managed the two thirds of the glass and the pills before he needed to snatch it back. Dick put the glass back on the nightstand, next to the ring of condensation from putting it there the first time. He pushed Damian’s sweaty hair back from his forehead and helped him under the covers. “Get some sleep.”

Damian nodded, closing his eyes. Dick thought he’d dropped right off, but a moment later, he whispered, “Grayson?”

“Yeah?”

“Is Father mad at me?”

“No, not at all. He might be worried, but he’s not mad at you.” _And if he is, I’ll set him straight._

“M’kay. If you say so.”

When Dick was reasonably sure Damian was asleep, he fished his phone out of his pocket to text Bruce. “ _Found him. He’s asleep at the penthouse.”_

He only had to wait a moment for the return text.

“ _Thank you_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [trashofalltrades](http://archiveofourown.org/users/trashofalltrades/pseuds/trashofalltrades) for beta'ing!  
> I'm on tumblr [@chimaerakitten](http://chimaerakitten.tumblr.com) if anyone wants to chat!


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